West Wing briefly evacuated due to smoke

The West Wing of the White House was briefly evacuated Saturday due to smoke.

Secret Service spokesman Max Milien told USA TODAY that smoke was seen coming out of a mechanical closet on the first floor after equipment overheated. The closet was not located near the Oval Office and the evacuation was out of an abundance of caution, he added.

The building was evacuated shortly after 7 a.m. while firefighters inspected the scene. People were allowed back into the building about an hour later.

A White House statement said a malfunctioning transformer set off a smoke alarm in the West Wing. No injuries were reported and the statement said that President Obama and his family were not affected by the incident.

CNN reported that five fire trucks responded to the scene, but departed shortly thereafter.